HEWING  A  STATION 
OUT  OF 

THE  AFRICAN  JUNGLE 

by 

P.  H.  J.  LERRIGO 


Published  by 

The  Board  of  Missionary  Cooperation 
of  The  Northern  Baptist  Convention 

for 

The  American  Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Society 

276  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City 


Hewing  a  Station  out 
of  the  African  Jungle 


WO  axes,  a  saw,  a  hammer,  a  box 
of  nails,  two  bales  of  cloth,  and 
ten  sacks  of  salt  comprised  the 
working  equipment  with  which 
Dr.  W7.  H.  Leslie  hewed  Vanga 
out  of  the  primitive  African  jun¬ 
gle.  W7ith  this  meager  outfit  he 
attacked  the  tangled  mass  of  un¬ 
derbrush  and  interlacing  creepers  which  bind  together 
age-old  jungle  giants  and  form  with  them  Congo’s 
menacing  denial  to  the  pioneering  onslaught  of  the 
missionary.  He  forced  his  way  up  the  declivity  of 
the  bank  of  the  river  Kwilu  and,  despite  brush-nur¬ 
tured  tsetse  fly  and  ubiquitous  mosquito,  bit  by  bit 
pushed  back  the  wild  forest  until  he  had  won  the 
broad  sweep  of  a  splendid  plateau  from  the  wilder¬ 
ness. 

This  is  not  ancient  missionary  history,  for  its  be¬ 
ginnings  date  from  the  year  1913.  The  forbidding- 
mass  of  vegetation  reared  itself  above  the  river-bank 

O 

[3l 


and  cast  its  heavy  shadows  over  the  water.  Beyond 
the  fringe  of  forest  skirting  the  river  lay  cannibal 
villages  absolutely  untouched  by  the  gospel  and  very 
little  acquainted  with  the  white  man  and  his  ways. 
The  first  day’s  clearing  yielded  little  more  than  space 
for  the  tent  on  the  beach,  but  day  after  day  the  two 
axes  and  the  saw  cut  deeper  into  the  intricate  mass 
until  the  summit  was  reached,  and  then  the  hammer 
and  box  of  nails  came  into  play.  In  the  brief  period 
which  has  intervened  since  its  opening,  the  station  has 
spread  over  the  entire  plateau.  Its  twenty-one  wattle- 
and-mud  buildings  include  the  homes  of  the  mission¬ 
aries,  the  church,  the  school,  the  dispensary,  the  car¬ 
penter-shop,  the  houses  for  schoolboys,  the  girls’ 
dormitory,  the  printing-shop,  and  the  guest-house. 
It  presents  an  attractive  and  orderly  village  crown¬ 
ing  the  rise  from  the  river,  with  plaza,  main  street, 
and  pineapple-bordered  avenue  running  backward 
between  plantations  of  manioc,  coffee,  and  bananas 
to  the  main  road  leading  to  the  native  village. 

This  attractive  base,  wrested  from  endless  miles 
of  prevailing  wilderness,  is  merely  the  starting-point 
from  which  pioneer  journeys  have  carried  the  mes¬ 
sage  far  and  wide  through  hundreds  of  miles  of  plain 
and  forest,  until  no  less  than  fifty  villages  have  re¬ 
sponded  to  the  call  and  welcomed  both  gospel  preach¬ 
ing  and  the  establishment  of  schools. 

[4] 


Eight  days  distant  a  main  outpost  has  been  estab¬ 
lished  in  the  village  of  Moanza  which,  while  depend¬ 
ent  for  direction  and  encouragement  upon  the  station 
of  Vanga,  has  itself  become  a  center  of  power  and 
light.  Twenty-two  additional  village  schools  and 
preaching  services  are  under  the  care  of  Mpambu, 
the  vigorous  African  leader  whose  story  is  told  else¬ 
where. 

The  little  bush  school  is  a  primitive  establish¬ 
ment.  Its  home  is  usually  a  grass-thatched  native 
hut,  its  equipment  a  few  slates  and  a  primer  or  two, 
and  its  presiding  genius  a  young  lad  whose  own  men¬ 
tal  furnishing  takes  him  little  beyond  the  Bible 
stories  and  long  division ;  but  it  is  these  little  village 
schools  which  furnish  the  introduction  to  the  mystery 
of  letters,  awaken  the  desire  for  a  fuller  life,  and 
point  the  way  to  better  and  larger  things.  The  trail 
which  leads  the  missionary  over  the  hills  and  plains 
to  the  cluster  of  native  huts  with  Bible  and  school 
book,  turns  back  upon  itself  when  the  unrest  of  un¬ 
tried  possibilities  takes  possession  of  the  heart  of  the 
youth  of  the  village,  and  one  day  a  group  of  boys 
manifestly  not  urban  in  their  appearance,  equipped 
with  a  yearning  for  knowledge  and  little  else  except 
a  piece  of  cloth  varying  in  size  from  a  few  inches 
to  a  yard  draped  artistically  amidships,  make  their 
appearance  at  the  main  station  to  enter  the  boarding- 

[5] 


BUILDING  THE  MISSION  HOSPITAL  AT  VANGA 


school.  These  lads  receive  an  invariable  welcome 
and  as  they  are  perfectly  capable  of  working  for  a  liv¬ 
ing  they  do  not  become  a  charge  upon  the  mission, 
but  vary  their  wrestlings  in  the  schoolroom  with 
equally  strenuous  exercises  in  the  forest  and  manioc 
patch.  The  physical  equipment  of  the  station, 
houses,  shops,  roads,  fences,  gardens,  owes  itself  to 
the  industry  of  the  schoolboys  in  their  desire  for 
learning.  And  every  new  enterprise  becomes  a  new 
educational  factor.  If  houses  are  to  be  built  lumber 
is  required,  and  the  white  man  goes  into  the  forest 
with  saws  and  men,  emerging  with  a  supply  of  sawed 
planks  and  a  company  of  expert  sawyers.  Bricks  are 
needed  j  he  takes  another  group  of  lads,  locates  a 

[61 


clay  bank,  and  dabbles  in  it.  Perhaps  to  the  mission¬ 
ary  himself  the  task  may  have  been  little  more  than 
an  academic  theory  previously,  but  slowly  forms  are 
made,  kilns  are  erected,  and  bricks  materialize,  while 
brickmakers  and  bricklayers  are  produced  in  the 
process. 

There  are  now  more  than  two  hundred  boys  and 
young  men  at  Vanga  Station.  Both  school  building 
and  chapel  are  filled  to  their  capacity  with  classes, 
and  those  who  cannot  find  accommodation  within 
pursue  their  scholastic  work  on  a  bench  out  under  a 
tree.  There  are  classes  of  small  boys  and  girls  learn¬ 
ing  to  read  from  charts  in  monosyllables,  ba,  be,  bi, 
bo,  bu.  There  are  others  beginning  to  add  and  sub¬ 
tract.  There  are  larger  youths  struggling  with  the 
mysteries  of  the  first  reader  in  their  own  language 
or  languages,  for  three  are  in  use.  The  classes  in 
mathematics  occasionally  go  as  far  as  fractions,  and 
the  subject  is  then  known  as  “the  study  which  causes 
trouble  for  the  head.”  Each  of  these  classes  is  under 
the  leadership  of  a  more  advanced  scholar  who  may 
not  be  either  the  largest  or  eldest  by  any  means. 
Most  astonishing  of  all  is  a  group  of  "young  men  who 
are  grappling  with  French,  and  who  repeat  in  quite 
understandable  manner  such  profound  phrases  as 
Ou  est  mon  chapeau ?  and  Le  chat  est  sur  le  table. 
Far  from  despicable  progress  has  been  made  by  some 

[7] 


of  them,  and  knowing,  of  course,  nothing  of  their 
native  tongue,  the  writer  had  the  satisfaction  of  com  - 
municating  directly  with  some  of  them  by  means  of 
the  simple  French  sentences  they  have  learned. 

Educators  everywhere  will  agree,  however,  that 
all  of  education  is  not  comprised  in  the  schoolroom, 
and  even  primitive  educational  institutions  are  not 
exempt  from  the  disturbances  caused  by  love’s  young 
dream.  The  young  men  gathering  at  Vanga  speedily 
made  known  to  their  teacher  that  they  were  betrothed, 
and  moreover  that  they  were  anxious  that  the  village 
belles,  upon  whom  social  custom  and  the  wishes  of 
their  uncles  had  decreed  that  their  youthful  affections 


THE  GIRLS’  DORMITORY  AT  VANGA 


should  be  set,  should  receive  similar  educational  ad¬ 
vantages  to  those  which  they  themselves  were  en¬ 
joying. 

This  presented  to  the  missionary  a  serious  prob¬ 
lem,  but  in  the  fashion  of  missionaries  everywhere 
he  immediately  recognized  in  it  a  new  opportunity, 
and  at  the  opposite  side  of  the  village  under  the  pro¬ 
tecting  wing  of  the  home  of  the  single  woman  mis¬ 
sionary,  Miss  Grage,  he  caused  to  be  erected  another 
building  of  the  prevailing  bamboo-and-clay  type  to 
shelter  such  young  girls  as  the  missionaries  were  able 
to  induce  to  come  to  the  station.  There  are  now 
fifty-five  of  these  young  ladies  and  all  of  them  en¬ 
gaged.  Let  the  imagination  dwell  upon  it.  Fifty- 
five  engaged  couples  upon  one  station  with  Cupid 
panting  from  overwork  and  fatigue  under  a  tropical 
sun.  But  these  young  people  have  other  matters  to 
occupy  their  attention  than  love-making.  The  day’s 
activities  begin  at  sunrise  or  a  little  before.  The  girls 
are  led  in  companies  to  their  work  in  the  gardens 
which  they  weed  and  plant  with  manioc.  The  boys 
and  young  men  have  previously  done  the  heavier 
spade  work  and  are  now  away  at  their  house-building, 
brick-making,  or  other  tasks.  The  girls  continue 
through  the  day,  alternating  industrial  and  domestic 
studies  with  book  work  in  the  schoolroom.  What 
with  the  busy  activities  of  the  day,  the  work,  the 

[9] 


CHRISTMAS  DOLLS  IN  BELGIAN  CONGO 

study,  the  preparation  and  consumption  of  the  meals, 
and  in  the  afternoon  the  merry  games  in  which  all 
join,  the  boys  in  their  own  precincts  and  the  girls  in 
theirs,  the  complications  of  propinquity  are  avoided. 
Moreover,  it  may  be  noted  that  the  girls  range  from 
ten  years  old  upward.  Proper  occasions  for  meeting 
between  the  boys  and  girls  are  arranged  under  suit¬ 
able  oversight.  The  boys  have  the  satisfaction  of 
knowing  that  the  future  partners  of  their  joys  and 
sorrows  are  being  cared  for  and  trained  against  the 
day  when  they  are  ready  to  take  a  wife,  and  the  girls 

[  10] 


blossom  happily  into  a  richer  and  fuller  life  than 
ever  could  have  been  theirs  under  the  social  condi¬ 
tions  of  the  heathen  village. 

This  system  of  wife  and  husband  training  has  al¬ 
ready  been  working  at  Vanga  for  some  years,  and 
not  a  few  young  couples  have  been  graduated  into  a 
happy  home  life  and  useful  Christian  service.  It 
has  given  rise  to  another  unique  institution.  Behind 
the  mission  station  a  little  farther  up  the  hill,  sepa¬ 
rated  from  the  compound  by  coffee  and  manioc 
patches,  is  a  model  village  built  by  the  graduate 
young  couples.  No  one  is  permitted  to  locate  in  the 
village  except  Christian  young  couples  who  have  gone 
through  the  schools.  Each  young  man  builds  a  house 
for  his  bride.  They  are  on  a  uniform  plan,  square 
in  outline,  have  two  commodious  rooms,  are  con¬ 
structed  of  wood  and  clay,  and  have  properly  fitted 
doors  and  windows.  The  roof  is  of  grass.  Each  has 
its  own  enclosure  with  a  garden  where  grow  paypays, 
bananas,  sweet  potatoes,  manioc,  peppers,  and  other 
vegetables.  Chickens  are  found  in  almost  every  yard, 
and  there  is  an  occasional  goat.  The  houses  face  each 
other  on  the  two  sides  of  a  wide,  cleanly  swept 
street.  The  interiors  of  the  houses  are  neat  and  clean 
and  are  furnished  in  some  cases  with  tables  and  chairs. 
All  have  beds  and  mosquito-nettings.  Considerable 
effort  has  been  put  forth  by  the  owners  to  make  them 

[HI 


attractive.  Behind  each  house  is  a  small  cook-house 
of  lighter  materials.  When  the  young  people  marry 
they  join  the  village  and  commence  their  married 
life  under  favorable  Christian  surroundings  which 
enable  them  to  avoid  entanglements  from  the  first 
with  the  old  vicious  customs  of  the  heathen  village. 
Seme  of  these  young  couples  are  even  learning  to 
eat  together,  a  very  great  departure  from  ancient 
custom,  but  a  practise  which  will  do  much  to  favor 
the  establishment  of  the  Christian  home  as  we  know 
it. 

After  some  consideration  the  boys  chose  the  name 


COMING  HOME  FROM  KINDERGARTEN 
[12] 


of  Beige  for  their  little  village.  They  look  forward 
to  establishing  their  houses  there  with  a  great  deal 
of  pleasure,  and  it  proves  an  incentive  to  good  work 
during  their  school  career.  The  young  couples  are 
encouraged  to  remain  in  Beige  only  for  a  year  or 
two,  until  family  habits  are  established.  They  then 
return  to  their  own  village,  carrying  with  them  the 
riches  of  a  new  understanding,  an  enlightened  heart, 
cleanly  habits,  and  better  methods  of  living. 

The  situation  at  Vanga  has  been  described  in 
some  detail  as  it  is  a  fairly  typical  instance  of  the 
creation  and  development  of  a  mission  station.  It 
must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  similar  efforts 
varying  only  in  manner  and  detail  are  now  being  car¬ 
ried  on  far  and  wide  throughout  the  Congo  territory. 
There  are  now  534  missionaries  at  work  in  the  terri¬ 
tory  covered  by  the  General  Conference  of  Protest¬ 
ant  Missionaries,  and  all  of  them  are  devoting  them¬ 
selves  to  the  establishment  or  development  of  such 
stations.  The  significance  of  the  movement  is  diffi¬ 
cult  to  gauge.  Unquestionably  it  is  profoundly  affect¬ 
ing  the  life  of  the  country.  Social  abuses  such  as 
cannibalism,  fetishism,  polygamy,  are  being  greatly 
mitigated,  the  power  of  the  witch-doctor  is  waning, 
the  poison  ordeal  is  disappearing,  tribal  wars  are  far 
less  frequent.  New  moral  ideals  are  being  estab¬ 
lished,  ideas  of  cleanliness  are  replacing  the  older 

[  13] 


filthy  living  conditions,  the  native  is  raised  from  a 
mat  on  the  floor  to  a  chair,  books  begin  to  unfold 
their  secrets  to  the  child  mind  of  the  people,  and 
above  all  a  positive,  sin-conquering,  Christ-revealing 
faith  is  taking  the  place  of  the  ancient  religion  of 
terror  and  degrading  superstition. 

Since  the  foregoing  was  written  much  progress 
has  been  made  at  Vanga  station.  Dr.  Leslie’s  own 
son,  H.  Richards,  has  spent  three  years  at  the  station 
and  with  his  trained  engineering  knowledge  has  re¬ 
placed  some  of  the  mud-and-wattle  buildings  with 
permanent  brick  structures.  King  Albert  of  Belgium 
has  appointed  a  sleeping-sickness  commission,  which 
after  thoroughly  investigating  the  Kwangu  area,  has 
removed  many  of  the  villages  which  lay  in  the  lower 
regions  infested  by  the  tsetse  flies,  to  higher  areas. 
Dr.  Leslie  has  cooperated  with  this  government  com¬ 
mission  in  its  valuable  work  on  behalf  of  the  natives 
and  as  a  result  of  his  long  service  to  the  Congo  peo¬ 
ple  was  recently  decorated  by  King  Albert  as  a  Chev¬ 
alier  de  l’Ordre  Royal  du  Lion. 

Following  in  the  wake  of  the  sleeping-sickness 
commission  Dr.  Leslie  visited  every  one  of  the  new 
villages  and  established  a  native  teacher  or  preacher 
at  each  point.  More  than  1  50  villages  are  now  cared 
for  in  this  way. 

It  has  been  found  possible  to  place  at  the  outpost 

[  D] 


of  Moanza  an  American  missionary  family,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Thomas  Hill,  and  the  elforts  carried  on  so 
heroically  for  a  decade  by  Samuel  Mpambu  are  now 
being  reenforced  and  extended.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hill 
have  given  more  than  30  years  of  successful  effort  to 
the  work  in  Congo  and  Samuel  Mpambu  himself, 
the  pioneer  at  Moanza,  was  one  of  the  young  men 
who  came  early  under  their  teaching. 

The  staff  at  Vanga  has  been  reenforced  so  that 
it  is  now  possible  to  carry  on  a  much  more  vigorous 
evangelistic  and  educational  work  in  the  entire 
Kwangu  area.  Dr.  Leslie’s  recent  letters  report  a 
new  spiritual  awakening  among  the  people  of  that 
section. 


Reprinted  by  permission  of  the 
c^merican  'Baptist  'Publication  .Society 
from 

“Rock  Breakers,”  by P.  H.J.  Lerrigo. 


i  i67-I-5M-Sept.  1925 — 10  cents 


